Recording control apparatus, recording apparatus, recording control method, and recording control program

ABSTRACT

A recording control apparatus includes a recording control unit for storing photographing data corresponding to an event of a mobile object as event record data in a recording unit, a removal detection unit for detecting that a recording apparatus is removed from the mobile object by acquiring a signal indicating that the recording apparatus including at least the recording unit is removed from the mobile object, a location information acquisition unit for acquiring location information of the recording apparatus, and a communication control unit for transmitting the location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit to another apparatus when the removal of the recording apparatus is detected by the removal detection unit within a predetermined time period after the event detection unit detects the event.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is based upon and claims the benefit of priorityfrom Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-119561, filed on Jun. 27,2019, the disclosure of which are incorporated herein in its entirety byreference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a recording control apparatus, arecording apparatus, a recording control method, and a recording controlprogram.

A widely-used dashboard camera includes means for acquiring data such asimages by photographing a scene of an event around a vehicle and meansfor detecting that the vehicle has received some kind of impact, andstores the images and the like for a predetermined time period in areproducible manner based on a time point when the impact on the vehicleis detected. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2009-087007 discloses a dashboard camera for recordingimage data based on a transition of acceleration. Such a dashboardcamera, when it detects an event caused by an accident or the like,stores photographing data obtained by photographing a scene of theaccident or the like in a reproducible manner. When abnormalacceleration is detected due to dangerous driving or the like, thedashboard camera stores the state of the dangerous driving in areproducible manner.

SUMMARY

In the event of an accident, parties of the accident or the parties andthe police may reproduce event record data stored by a dashboard camerato check a circumstance of the accident.

However, before or at the time of checking the circumstance of theaccident, there is a possibility that one malicious party may steal andtake away the dashboard camera of the other party in order to destroythe event record data (evidence) in which the circumstance of theaccident is recorded, or dispose of the dashboard camera while escaping.In such cases, it may be difficult to identify the escaping party.

The present disclosure is made to solve such a problem, and an object ofthe present disclosure is to provide a recording control apparatus, arecording apparatus, a recording control method, and a recording controlprogram, which can provide information for enabling identification of aparty who has taken away the recording apparatus when the recordingapparatus has been taken away after an event such as an accident hasoccurred.

A first example aspect of the present disclosure is a recording controlapparatus including:

a photographing data acquisition unit configured to acquirephotographing data photographed by a photographing unit;

an event detection unit configured to detect an event of a mobileobject;

a recording control unit configured to store the photographing data fora predetermined time period corresponding to the event detected by theevent detection unit as event record data in a recording unit;

a removal detection unit configured to detect that the recordingapparatus is removed from the mobile object by acquiring a signalindicating that the recording apparatus including at least the recordingunit is removed from the mobile object;

a location information acquisition unit configured to acquire locationinformation of the recording apparatus; and

a communication control unit configured to transmit the locationinformation acquired by the location information acquisition unit toanother apparatus when the removal of the recording apparatus isdetected by the removal detection unit within a predetermined timeperiod after the event detection unit detects the event.

A second example aspect of the present disclosure is a recordingapparatus including:

the above recording control apparatus;

the photographing unit;

a display unit configured to display the photographing data photographedby the photographing unit;

the recording unit;

a GNSS reception unit configured to output a GNSS reception signal tothe location information acquisition unit; and

an internal power supply configured to supply power to the recordingapparatus.

A third example aspect of the present disclosure is a recording controlmethod including:

acquiring photographing data photographed by a photographing unit;

detecting an event of a mobile object;

storing the photographing data for a predetermined time periodcorresponding to the detected event as event record data in a recordingunit;

detecting that a recording apparatus is removed from the mobile objectby acquiring a signal indicating that the recording apparatus includingat least the recording unit is removed from the mobile object;

acquiring location information of the recording apparatus; and

transmitting the acquired location information to another apparatus whenthe removal of the recording apparatus is detected within apredetermined time period after the event is detected.

A fourth example aspect of the present disclosure is a recording controlprogram for causing a computer to execute processing of:

acquiring photographing data photographed by a photographing unit;

detecting an event of a mobile object;

storing the photographing data for a predetermined time periodcorresponding to the detected event as event record data in a recordingunit;

detecting that a recording apparatus is removed from the mobile objectby acquiring a signal indicating that the recording apparatus includingat least the recording unit is removed from the mobile object;

acquiring location information of the recording apparatus; and

transmitting the acquired location information to another apparatus whenthe removal of the recording apparatus is detected within apredetermined time period after the event is detected.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to provide a recordingcontrol apparatus, a recording apparatus, a recording control method,and a recording control program, which can provide information forenabling identification of a party who has taken away the recordingapparatus when the recording apparatus has been taken away after anevent such as an accident has occurred.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recordingapparatus according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the recording apparatus according to thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the recording apparatus according to the firstembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the recording apparatus according to the firstembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the recording controlapparatus according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recordingapparatus according to a second embodiment; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of a recording controlapparatus according to the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Specific embodiments to which the present disclosure is applied will bedescribed in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, thepresent disclosure is not limited to the following embodiments. Forclarity of description, the following description and drawings have beensimplified as appropriate.

A configuration of the embodiment will be described below with referenceto the drawings. A recording apparatus 10 according to this embodimentis used in a mobile object such as an automobile and controls recordingof photographing data photographed by a photographing unit such as acamera, and is, for example, an apparatus called a dashboard camera. Arecording control apparatus 100, which is a control unit of therecording apparatus 10, has a function of storing the photographing datafor a preset time period as “event record data” using, for example,acceleration due to an impact applied to the mobile object, such as anunexpected impact due to a collision accident, as a trigger. Byreproducing the event record data using the recording apparatus 10 oranother reproducing apparatus and viewing images of the reproduced eventrecord data, a driver of the automobile or the like can understand acircumstance of the event. When the recording apparatus 10 is providedwith a reproducing function of the event record data or the like, therecording apparatus 10 may be referred to as a recording and reproducingapparatus. Note that the mobile object is not limited to a vehicle, andinstead may be a person or an animal in addition to, for example, amotorcycle, a drone, an airplane, or a ship. Hereinafter, the vehiclewill be described as an example of the mobile object.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the recordingapparatus 10 including the recording control apparatus 100 according tothe first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the recording apparatus 10includes a plurality of components connected to a control unit (alsoreferred to herein as a recording control apparatus) 100 and the controlunit 100 for controlling each component. The control unit 100 is acontrol apparatus having a circuit board on which a CPU (CentralProcessing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a memory, aplurality of interfaces, etc., are mounted. The control unit 100executes stored programs to thereby execute various processes.

The control unit 100 according to this embodiment will be described indetail below with reference to FIG. 1. The control unit 100 alsofunctions as a functional computing unit for executing each of thesubdivided processes. Specifically, the control unit 100 may include aphotographing data acquisition unit 120, a buffer memory 121, aphotographing data processing unit 122, a recording control unit 123, areproduction control unit 124, an operation control unit 125, a displaycontrol unit 126, an acceleration information acquisition unit 127, anevent detection unit 128, a location information acquisition unit 129, avehicle information acquisition unit 130, a communication control unit171, and a removal detection unit 181. In FIG. 1, for convenience, eachof these components is shown as being connected to a bus line 110.

The photographing data acquisition unit 120 acquires the photographingdata supplied from the photographing unit 150 such as a camera. Thephotographing data acquisition unit 120 supplies the photographing datato the buffer memory 121 through the bus line 110.

The buffer memory 121 is a volatile or non-volatile memory apparatus.The buffer memory 121 sequentially receives the photographing dataperiodically generated by the photographing unit 150 through thephotographing data acquisition unit 120, and temporarily stores thereceived photographing data.

The photographing data processing unit 122 generates a photographingfile of a format conforming to a predetermined preset format for a fixedperiod from the photographing data stored in the buffer memory 121. Thepreset format is, for example, H. 264 and MPEG-4 (Moving Picture ExpertsGroup), and the period for which the photographing file is generated is,for example, 60 seconds, but the present disclosure not limited to them.

The photographing data processing unit 122 may process the photographingdata to generate the photographing file having a preset angle of view.The photographing data processing unit 122 may perform various processeson the photographing data output from the buffer memory 121, generatethe photographing data of a preset time or a preset angle of view, andadd header information such as a file name to generate the photographingfile. Further, the photographing data processing unit 122 may processthe photographing data output from the buffer memory 121 to performnoise removal, distortion correction, and the like on the photographingdata, or may generate the photographing file which displays timeinformation, vehicle velocity information, vehicle location information,etc. in the photographing data.

The recording control unit 123 controls the recording unit 160 to recordthe photographing file generated by the photographing data processingunit 122. When the event detection unit 128 detects an event, therecording control unit 123 stores the photographing file for apredetermined time period preset based on the detection of the event inthe recording unit 160 as the event record data which is prohibited frombeing overwritten. Such a photographing operation is referred to as anevent record operation. The photographing file for the predeterminedtime period preset based on the detection of the event is, for example,the photographing file for 30 seconds before and after the time when theevent is detected. The recording control unit 123 can store the eventrecord data in a predetermined recording area in the recording unit 160.The predetermined recording area is, for example, a recording area inwhich overwriting or erasure is prohibited. Alternatively, a flagindicating that overwriting or erasure is prohibited may be added to afile of the event record data supplied to the recording unit 160 by therecording control unit 123 and then the file may be stored.

The recording control unit 123 records, in the recording unit 160,information indicating whether or not the event record data stored inthe recording unit 160 has been reproduced by the reproduction controlunit 124 in the past. By doing so, the reproduction control unit 124 canidentify which event record data is not reproduced.

If the event detection unit 128 has not detected an event, the recordingcontrol unit 123 may store the photographing file in the recording unit160 in a state in which the photographing file can be overwritten. Thephotographing file stored in the recording unit 160 and different fromthe event record data is referred to herein as a “normal file”. When astorage capacity of the recording unit 160 reaches an upper limit, therecording control unit 123 may delete the old normal file and record thenewly generated normal file in the recording unit 160. Such aphotographing operation is referred to as a loop recording operation.

The recording control unit 123 records, in the recording unit 160,information indicating whether or not the event record data stored inthe recording unit 160 has been reproduced by the reproduction controlunit 124 in the past. By doing so, the reproduction control unit 124 canidentify which event record data is not reproduced.

The operation control unit 125 acquires operation information receivedby the operation unit 140, and outputs an operation instruction based onthe operation information to each component. When the operation controlunit 125 obtains an instruction to select various data to be reproducedfrom the operation unit 140, the operation control unit 125 controls thereproduction control unit 124 to select a file or the like recorded inthe recording unit 160. When the operation control unit 125 obtains aninstruction regarding the reproduction of various data from theoperation unit 140, the operation control unit 125 controls thereproduction control unit 124 to perform processing related to thereproduction. The instructions related to the reproduction of thevarious data are, for example, reproduction start, pause, reproductionstop, enlarged display, etc.

The display control unit 126 controls the display unit 141 to displayvarious information. For example, the display control unit 126 controlsthe display unit 141 to display the photographing data which is beingphotographed by the photographing unit 150. The display control unit 126receives the event record data supplied from the reproduction controlunit 124, and displays the received event record data on the displayunit 141. When a touch sensor is superimposed on the display unit 141 asa function of the operation unit 140, the display control unit 126controls the display unit 141 to appropriately display an iconcorresponding to the touch sensor.

The acceleration information acquisition unit 127 receives informationabout acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 142 mounted onthe recording apparatus 10 and outputs it to the accelerationinformation acquisition unit 127.

The event detection unit 128 detects an occurrence of the event of themobile object from a magnitude of a signal and a signal pattern of thereceived information based on the information about the accelerationacquired from the acceleration information acquisition unit 127. Theacceleration detected as the event of the mobile object is, for example,acceleration generated by an impact generated when the vehicle as themobile object collides with another object.

When the event detection unit 128 detects that the information receivedfrom the acceleration information acquisition unit 127 corresponds to anoccurrence of a predetermined event, it supplies a signal indicatingthat the occurrence of the event is detected to the recording controlunit 123. An event is considered to have occured, for example, whenacceleration generated due to an accident in which an object collideswith a vehicle is detected. For example, when acceleration exceeding apreset magnitude in a preset direction is detected beyond a preset timeperiod, or when a change in the acceleration is large in a preset timeperiod, the event detection unit 128 detects the occurrence of theevent. The event detection unit 128 may detect the acceleration in theX, Y, and Z axes, which are coordinate axes of the 3-axis coordinates,or may detect the acceleration in at least one of these axialdirections. The acceleration received from these three axial directionsmay be weighted.

The acceleration information acquisition unit 127 may acquire theinformation about the acceleration from an acceleration sensor (notshown) mounted on the mobile object such as a vehicle, instead of theacceleration sensor 142 mounted on the recording apparatus 10.

The location information acquisition unit 129 receives a GNSS (GlobalNavigation Satellite System) reception signal from a GNSS satellitereceived by the GNSS reception unit 143, calculates the locationinformation that is information about a current location from thereceived signal, and supplies the calculated location information to therecording control unit 123 and the communication control unit 171. Thelocation information includes, for example, the latitude and longitudeof the vehicle at the time when the signal is received from the GNSSsatellite. The location information acquisition unit 129 can acquire thelocation information of the vehicle at the time when the vehicle stopsafter an occurrence of an event such as an accident based on the vehicleinformation from the vehicle information acquisition unit 130 describedlater.

The vehicle information acquisition unit 130 acquires vehicleinformation related to a vehicle, for example, from an ECU (ElectronicControl Unit) (not shown) connected through a CAN (Controller AreaNetwork) interface (I/F) 144. The vehicle information includes, forexample, vehicle velocity information and braking information. Thevehicle information acquisition unit 130 may acquire the locationinformation of the vehicle based on a GNSS reception unit (not shown)mounted on the vehicle.

The removal detection unit 181 detects removal of the recordingapparatus 10 from the vehicle by receiving a signal indicating theremoval of the recording apparatus 10 from the vehicle. The recordingapparatus 10 is connected to a power supply (an external power supply30) of the vehicle through a wired cable. When the wired cable isunplugged, the removal detection unit 181 acquires a signal indicatingthat the external power supply 30 is disconnected. That is, the removaldetection unit 181 may detect the removal from the vehicle based on thesignal indicating that the external power supply 30 supplied from thevehicle to the recording apparatus 10 is disconnected.

Alternatively, the removal detection unit 181 may receive a signalindicating that the recording apparatus 10 is removed from the vehiclefrom an attachment/detachment sensor 922 (described later in FIG. 2)provided in an attachment/detachment unit 921 of the recording apparatus10.

Further, the removal detection unit 181 may determine that the recordingapparatus 10 is removed from the vehicle when a distance indicated bythe location information of the recording apparatus 10 acquired by thelocation information acquisition unit 129 provided in the recordingapparatus 10 and a location at which the vehicle has stopped acquired bythe vehicle information acquisition unit 130 is equal to or greater thana first predetermined distance. The first predetermined distance may beset to any distance, for example, 2 m to 5 m, where a main body of therecording apparatus 10 is considered to have been removed from thevehicle.

When the removal detection unit 181 detects the removal of the recordingapparatus 10 within a predetermined time period after the eventdetection unit 128 detects the event, the communication control unit 171transmits the location information of the recording apparatus 10acquired by the location information acquisition unit 129 to an externalapparatus 20 which is another apparatus. Alternatively, thecommunication control unit 171 may transmit the location information ofthe recording apparatus 10 to the external apparatus 20 when the removaldetection unit 181 detects the removal of the recording apparatus 10within a predetermined time period after the recording control unit 123stores the event record data. The location information to be transmittedto the external apparatus 20 also includes time informationcorresponding to the location. The external apparatus 20 of atransmission destination can be set in advance by an owner of therecording apparatus 10. An example of the external apparatus 20 may be amobile phone, a smartphone, or a computer of the owner of the recordingapparatus 10, or a server in the cloud. The external apparatus 20 candisplay the location information of the recording apparatus 10 on a mapon a screen based on the received location information of the recordingapparatus 10. Thus, the external apparatus 20 can identify thetransition of the location information and the current location of therecording apparatus 10 taken away by the malicious party or the like byreceiving the location information of the recording apparatus 10. As aresult, the recording apparatus 10 can be found, and, for example, thepolice or the like can identify the party who has taken away therecording apparatus 10 and the vehicle of the party from the images ofother monitoring cameras or dashboard cameras other vehicles have nearthe moving route of the party who has taken away the recording apparatus10 using the transition of the location information of the recordingapparatus 10.

Preferably, when the communication control unit 171 detects that thedistance between the location information of the recording apparatus 10at the time of detection of the removal by the removal detection unit181 and the location information of the recording apparatus 10 after theremoval is equal to or greater than the predetermined distance, thecommunication control unit 171 may transmit the location information ofthe recording apparatus 10 to the external apparatus 20. Thepredetermined distance referred to here is a distance that, for example,after an event such as an accident occurs, the recording apparatus 10 istaken away and clearly hinders the check of the event record data. Forexample, a distance of 1000 m or more is set as the predetermineddistance. By doing so, when the owner of the recording apparatus 10removes the recording apparatus 10 and reproduces the event record datanear the accident site to show the data to other parties, the police,and the like, it is possible to prevent or minimize the locationinformation of the recording apparatus 10 from being transmittedunnecessarily.

After the removal detection unit 181 detects the recording apparatus 10being removed from the vehicle and the communication control unit 171starts the transmission of the location information to the externalapparatus 20, the communication control unit 171 can continue thetransmission of the location information while the power supply capacityof an internal power supply 145 allows the transmission of the locationinformation. Thus, the location information of the recording apparatus10 taken by the malicious party can be transmitted for a possibleperiod, thereby further increasing the possibility that the party whohas taken away the recording apparatus 10 or the vehicle of the partiescan be identified.

Next, with reference to FIG. 1, each of the components connected to thecontrol unit 100 will be described. The recording apparatus 10 mayinclude an operation unit 140, a display unit 141, an accelerationsensor 142, a GNSS reception unit 143, a CAN I/F 144, a photographingunit 150, a recording unit 160, and a communication unit 170. Therecording apparatus 10 may include an attachment/detachment sensor 922provided in the attachment/detachment unit 921 and an internal powersupply 145. The recording apparatus 10 is connected to the externalpower supply 30 through a wired cable.

The operation unit 140 is a user interface for receiving an operationperformed by a user to the recording apparatus 10. The user interfacemay be, for example, an operation button, or a touch sensor disposed tobe superimposed on the display unit 141. The user interface may be areception unit for infrared or wireless communication, and may receive asignal transmitted from a remote controller or the like. The operationunit 140 supplies operation information, which is information related tothe received operation, to the control unit 100 through a predeterminedinterface. The operation information is, for example, an instruction tostart recording the event or an instruction to reproduce the eventrecord data. In this example, the recording apparatus 10 includes theoperation unit 140, but the present disclosure is not limited to this.If the operation unit 140 is a remote controller or the like, theoperation unit 140 may be provided outside the recording apparatus 10 asa separate body. In this case, the recording apparatus 10 may include anoperation signal reception unit for receiving an operation signal fromthe operation unit 140 such as a remote controller.

The display unit 141 is a display apparatus which displays variousinformation under the control of the display control unit 126. Thedisplay unit 141 has at least a display panel such as a liquid crystalpanel or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence). The display unit 141 isconnected to the display control unit 126 and displays a signal suppliedfrom the display control unit 126. The display unit 141 displays theimages included in the event record data or the like reproduced by thereproduction control unit 124. In this example, the recording apparatus10 includes the display unit 141, but the present disclosure is notlimited to this. The display unit 141 may be provided as a separate bodyoutside the recording apparatus 10.

The acceleration sensor 142 is, for example, a three-axis accelerationsensor, and is installed at any position of the recording apparatus 10.The acceleration sensor 142 detects the acceleration applied to theacceleration sensor 142, and supplies information about the detectedacceleration to the control unit 100. The acceleration sensor 142 isconnected to the acceleration information acquisition unit 127, andsupplies the information about the detected acceleration to theacceleration information acquisition unit 127.

The GNSS reception unit 143 receives information which identifies thecurrent location of the recording apparatus 10 by, for example, asatellite positioning system called GPS (Global Positioning System). TheGNSS reception unit 143 includes an antenna for receiving a GNSS signal.The GNSS reception unit 143 may additionally include a communicationinterface for receiving the location information acquired by thevehicle. The GNSS reception unit 143 supplies the received signalrelated to the current location of the recording apparatus 10 to thelocation information acquisition unit 129.

The internal power supply 145 supplies power for operating the recordingapparatus 10 when the supply of external power to the recordingapparatus 10 is stopped. The internal power supply 145 is a rechargeablebattery or a capacitor for storing power from the external power supply30.

The photographing unit 150 is an imaging apparatus including anobjective lens, an imaging element, an A-D (Analog-to-Digital)conversion element, and so on. The photographing unit 150 photographsimages including sceneries around the vehicle and generates thephotographing data, which is data of the photographed images. Thephotographing unit 150 supplies the generated photographing data to thephotographing data acquisition unit 120. The photographing data isrecorded in the recording unit 160 in association with the locationinformation from the GNSS reception unit 143. In this example, therecording apparatus 10 includes the photographing unit 150, but thepresent disclosure is not limited to this. The photographing unit 150may be provided as a separate body outside the recording apparatus 10.That is, the photographing data may be supplied directly to thephotographing data acquisition unit 120 from the photographing unit 150provided outside a main body of the recording apparatus 10.

The recording unit 160 is a recording apparatus for storing thephotographing data supplied from the photographing unit 150. Therecording unit 160 is, for example, a memory card including a flashmemory, or a non-volatile recording apparatus such as an SSD (SolidState Drive) or an HDD (Hard Disc Drive). The recording unit 160 isconnected to the recording control unit 123, receives predetermined datafrom the recording control unit 123, and records the received data. Therecording unit 160 supplies an event file including the recorded eventrecord data to the reproduction control unit 124 in response to aninstruction from the reproduction control unit 124. The recording unit160 may be attachable to and detachable from the recording apparatus ormay not be detachable from the recording apparatus 10. In terms of thepurport of the present disclosure, it is more preferable that the therecording unit 160 be not easily removable or not removable at all. Thatis, the recording unit 160 is preferably incorporated into a housing ofthe recording apparatus 10 (also referred to as a recording andreproduction apparatus with a built-in recording unit).

The communication unit 170 transmits the location information of therecording apparatus 10 to the external apparatus 20 by wirelesscommunication via a wireless network based on an instruction from thecommunication control unit 171.

The communication unit 170 may also receive information about theacceleration detected by a vehicle acceleration sensor (not shown)installed in a vehicle in which the recording apparatus 10 is installed,and output the information to the acceleration information acquisitionunit 127. The communication unit 170 may acquire information about theacceleration detected by the vehicle acceleration sensor throughwireless communication, or may acquire the information about theacceleration detected by the vehicle acceleration sensor using, forexample, a communication system such as CAN or Ethernet (registeredtrademark). Alternatively, the communication unit 170 may communicatewith a car navigation system installed in the vehicle to acquireacceleration information from an acceleration sensor included in the carnavigation system.

Next, a mechanical configuration of the recording apparatus 10 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 2 to 4. FIG. 2 is a right side view ofthe recording apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 isa rear view of the recording apparatus 10 according to the firstembodiment as seen from a photographing direction. FIG. 4 is a frontview of the recording apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment asseen from a display direction. In FIGS. 2 to 4, a right-handedorthogonal coordinate system is provided for convenience in explainingthe positional relationship of the components. In the followingdrawings, when a orthogonal coordinate system is provided, the X-axis,Y-axis, and Z-axis directions of FIGS. 2 to 4 are equal to the X-axis,Y-axis, and Z-axis directions of the orthogonal coordinate system,respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recording apparatus 10 is fixed to a windshieldWS of the vehicle with a bracket 900 interposed therebetween. Thebracket 900 includes an adhesive unit 901, a holding unit 902, and aball joint 903.

The adhesive unit 901 is a member for attaching the recording apparatus10 to a front surface of the vehicle in contact with the windshield WSusing an adhesive, double-sided tape, or the like. The bracket 900 isfixed by fixing the adhesive unit 901 to any position of the windshieldWS.

The holding unit 902 is attachable to and detachable from theattachment/detachment unit 921 and fits to the attachment/detachmentunit 921 so that, while the vehicle is traveling, the recordingapparatus 10 does not come off, or a photographing direction deviationdoesn't occur. For example, the holding unit 902 has ribs or grooveswhich are slidable and engageable with the attachment/detachment 921 ina predetermined direction. The recording apparatus 10 is locked andfixed by a locking mechanism (not shown) when the holding unit 902slides onto a predetermined position in the attachment/detachment unit921.

The attachment/detachment sensor 922 is provided between anattachment/detachment unit 921 and the holding unit 902 of the recordingapparatus 10. The attachment/detachment sensor 922 can detect that therecording apparatus 10 is removed. When the recording apparatus 10 isremoved from the holding unit 902 held by the vehicle, theattachment/detachment sensor 922 transmits a signal indicating theremoval to the removal detection unit 181.

The ball joint 903 is a joint mechanism provided so that the anglebetween the adhesive unit 901 and the holding unit 902 can be adjusted,and moves when a predetermined external force is applied. In a state inwhich the adhesive unit 901 adheres to the windshield WS and the holdingunit 902 is fitted to the recording apparatus 10, the ball joint 903 isconfigured not to move unless a predetermined external force is applied.

A user using the recording apparatus 10 fixes the adhesive unit therecording apparatus 10 to the holding unit 902. In this way, therecording apparatus 10 is fixed to the vehicle.

When the user removes the recording apparatus 10 fixed to the vehicle,the user releases the attachment/detachment unit 921 of the recordingapparatus 10 from the holding unit 902. When the attachment/detachmentunit 921 is released from the holding unit 902, the user releases a lockmechanism (not shown) and slides the attachment/detachment unit 921 awayfrom the holding unit 902. In this way, the recording apparatus 10 isremoved from the vehicle.

A periphery of the recording apparatus 10 is covered with a housing 920made of resin. In the recording apparatus 10, the display panel includedin the display unit 141 is disposed on a front face, an objective lensof the photographing unit 150 is exposed on a rear face, andattachment/detachment unit 921 is provided on an upper surface.Therefore, in the recording apparatus 10, the attachment/detachment unit921 provided on the upper surface is fitted to the holding unit 902 ofthe bracket 900, the objective lens of the photographing unit 150 isexposed in a traveling direction of the vehicle, and the display panelof the display unit 141 is disposed to face the driver side. When therecording apparatus 10 is installed in this manner, the recordingapparatus 10 photographs images in the traveling direction of thevehicle and displays the photographed images to the driver. The size ofthe display panel of the recording apparatus 10 is, for example, about1.5 to 4 inches diagonally. The size of the housing 920 is, for example,about 5 cm to 10 cm in a width direction (X-axis direction).

As shown in FIG. 3, the recording apparatus 10 includes the accelerationsensor 142. Therefore, when the recording apparatus 10 is fixed to thevehicle by the bracket 900, the acceleration sensor 142 detects theacceleration received by the vehicle through the bracket 900. Theacceleration sensor 142 detects the acceleration also when the userremoves or attaches the recording apparatus 10 from or to the bracket900, or when the user rocks or pushes the recording apparatus 10.

The bracket 900 described above is an example of mounting the recordingapparatus 10 on a vehicle, and the recording apparatus 10 can be mountedon the vehicle or a mobile object in various preferable ways. Further,the sensor for detecting the removal is not limited to theattachment/detachment sensor 922 described above, but may be anypreferable sensor provided between the recording apparatus 10 and themobile object. Such a sensor for detecting the removal can detect thatthe recording apparatus 10 is removed from the mobile object.

The operation of the recording control apparatus according to theembodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5.

The recording control apparatus 100 starts a loop recording operationfor recording the photographing data in an overwritable manner and anevent detection operation (Step S101). When the event detection unit 128determines an occurrence of acceleration satisfying a condition to bedetected as an event, such as a collision accident between a vehicle towhich the recording apparatus 10 is attached and another vehicle (YES inStep S103), the recording control apparatus 100 stores the photographingdata for a predetermined time period corresponding to the detected eventin the recording unit 160 as the event record data (Step S105). Theevent record data is stored in a format in which overwriting or erasureis prohibited.

Next, after the event is detected, the recording control apparatus 100determines whether or not a predetermined time period has elapsed sincethe event is detected (Step S107). This determination is made todetermine whether or not the recording apparatus 10 is removed due to anevent such as a collision (Step S109). This predetermined time periodis, for example, a time period within which there is a possibility thatanother party may take the recording apparatus 10 away from the sitewhere the event occurs after the occurrence of the event, and a timeperiod within which, after the predetermined time since the removal ofthe recording apparatus has elapsed, it can be determined that theremoval is not directly related to the event. The predetermined timeperiod is set, for example, from 5 minutes to 10 minutes.

Next, the removal detection unit 181 of the recording control apparatus100 acquires a signal indicating that the recording apparatus 10 isremoved from the vehicle (e.g., a signal indicating that the externalpower supply is disconnected, a signal from the attachment/detachmentsensor 922, a signal indicating that the recording apparatus 10 and thevehicle are separated from each other by the predetermined distance (thefirst predetermined distance), etc.), and determines whether or not therecording apparatus 10 is removed from the vehicle (Step S109). That is,before the elapse of the predetermined time period (NO in Step S107),when the removal detection unit 181 detects that the recording apparatus10 is removed from the vehicle (YES in Step S109), it is presumed thatanother party of the event such as a collision has taken away therecording apparatus 10, and the communication control unit 171 startstransmitting the location information of the recording apparatus 10 to apreset external apparatus (e.g., the mobile phone of the owner of therecording apparatus 10) (Step S111). In this manner, by using theexternal apparatus, the owner can identify the location of the main bodyof the recording apparatus 10 which has been taken away maliciously bythe other party, and can identify an escape route of the other party. Ifit is determined in Step S109 that the removal is not detected (NO inStep S109), the processing transitions to Step S107. In Step S111, afterthe transmission of the location information of the recording apparatus10 to the external apparatus is started, the transmission of thelocation information is continued as long as possible, and theprocessing is ended. In this case, there is a high possibility that aninternal power supply capacity of the recording apparatus 10 isexhausted or the recording apparatus 10 is destroyed or disposed of.

On the other hand, when the predetermined time period has elapsed (YESin Step S107), the recording apparatus 10 is kept attached to the mobileobject, or the recording apparatus 10 is removed after the predeterminedtime period has elapsed. In either case, there is no indication that theother party who is a party of the event has taken away the recordingapparatus 10, so it is determined whether or not event detectionprocessing and the loop recording operation should be ended (Step S113).If the event detection processing and the loop recording operation arenot ended (NO in Step S113), the processing in Step S103 is repeated.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recordingapparatus 10 including a control unit 100 according to the secondembodiment. In FIG. 6, the same components as those in the firstembodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.1, and description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

The control unit 100 according to this embodiment will be described indetail below with reference to FIG. 6. The control unit 100 according tothis embodiment is different from the control unit 100 according to thefirst embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that the control unit 100 accordingto this embodiment further includes a distance calculation unit 131.

The distance calculation unit 131 calculates a distance between thevehicle and the recording apparatus 10. This calculation can beperformed based on the location information of the vehicle acquired asthe vehicle information from the vehicle information acquisition unit130 and the location information of the recording apparatus 10.

The distance calculation unit 131 can calculate the distance between thevehicle and the recording apparatus 10 based on the location informationof the vehicle when the vehicle stops after the event detection unit 128detects the event and the location information of the recordingapparatus 10.

The operation of the recording control apparatus according to thisembodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7.Steps S201 to S209 in the flowchart of FIG. 7 are the same as steps S101to S109, respectively, in the flowchart of FIG. 5, and Steps S213 andS217 to S209 are the same as steps S109 and S111 to S113, respectively,in the flowchart of FIG. 5, and therefore the description thereof isomitted. If it is detected in Step S209 that the recording apparatus 10is removed (YES in Step S209), the location information acquisition unit129 first stores the location information at the time of the removal ofthe recording apparatus 10 as reference location information (StepS211).

Next, it is determined whether a predetermined time period has elapsedfrom the time of the removal (Step S213). In this case, thepredetermined time period is set such that a malicious party has takenaway the recording apparatus 10 and runs away to a distance so that thecheck of the event record data is clearly hindered. The predeterminedtime period is, for example, three minutes. If it is determined in StepS213 that the predetermined time period has not elapsed (NO in StepS213), it is determined whether or not the distance between the locationinformation of the recording apparatus 10 when the removal is detectedby the removal detection unit 181 and the location information of therecording apparatus 10 after the removal is greater than a predetermineddistance (Step S215). If it is determined in Step S215 that the distanceis not equal to or greater than the predetermined distance (NO in StepS215), the processing returns to

Step S213, while if it is detected in Step S215 that the distance isequal to or greater than the predetermined distance (YES in Step S215),the processing transitions to Step S217. A second predetermined distanceas the predetermined distance determined in Step S215 is set such that,for example, after the recording apparatus 10 is removed, the recordingapparatus 10 has been taken away by another party, so that the check ofthe event record data is clearly hindered. The second distance is, forexample, 1000 m. In the second embodiment, in addition to the effect ofthe first embodiment, it can be more appropriately determined that therecording apparatus 10 is taken away.

According to the various embodiments, the external apparatus 20 that hasreceived the location information of the recording apparatus can referto the location information of the recording apparatus that has beentaken away. Therefore, the police or the like can identify the party ofthe accident based on the images and the like of any security camera inthe vicinity of the escape route in accordance with the locationinformation of the recording apparatus. Even if the stolen dashboardcamera is destroyed or abandoned on the way to escape, the party of theaccident can be identified if there is a security camera on the escaperoute from the accident site to the location where the driver recorderis destroyed or abandoned. Further, eyewitness information can also beacquired.

Further, as described above with reference to the various embodiments,the present disclosure can also take the form of a recording controlmethod, as described above with reference to the procedure of processingin the recording control apparatus. The recording control methodincludes the following steps. A step of acquiring photographing dataphotographed by a photographing unit; detecting an event of a mobileobject; storing the photographing data for a predetermined time periodcorresponding to the detected event as event record data in a recordingunit; detecting that a recording apparatus is removed from the mobileobject by acquiring a signal indicating that the recording apparatusincluding at least the recording unit is removed from the mobile object;acquiring location information of the recording apparatus; andtransmitting the acquired location information to another apparatus whenthe removal of the recording apparatus is detected within apredetermined time period after the event is detected. Other examplesare as described in the various embodiments described above.Furthermore, a recording control program is a program for causing acomputer to execute such a recording control method.

In the above embodiments, each element described in the drawing as afunctional block for performing various processes can be constituted bya CPU, a memory, and other circuits in terms of hardware, and can beimplemented by a program loaded in a memory or the like in terms ofsoftware. Accordingly, it is understood by those skilled in the art thatthese functional blocks may be implemented in a variety of ways byhardware only, software only, or combinations thereof, and is notlimited to either.

The above program can be stored and provided to a computer using anytype of non-transitory computer readable media. Non-transitory computerreadable media include any type of tangible storage media. Examples ofnon-transitory computer readable media include magnetic storage media(such as floppy disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives, etc.), opticalmagnetic storage media (e.g. magneto-optical disks), CD-ROM (CompactDisc-Read Only Memory), CD-R (CD-Recordable), CD-R/W, (CD-ReWritable)and semiconductor memories (such as Mask ROM, PROM (Programmable ROM),EPROM (Erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (Random Access Memory), etc.).

The program may be provided to a computer using any type of transitorycomputer readable media. Examples of transitory computer readable mediainclude electric signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves.Transitory computer readable media can provide the program to a computervia a wired communication line (e.g. electric wires, and optical fibers)or a wireless communication line.

What is claimed is:
 1. A recording control apparatus comprising: aphotographing data acquisition unit configured to acquire photographingdata photographed by a photographing unit; an event detection unitconfigured to detect an event of a mobile object; a recording controlunit configured to store the photographing data for a predetermined timeperiod corresponding to the event detected by the event detection unitas event record data in a recording unit; a removal detection unitconfigured to detect that the recording apparatus is removed from themobile object by acquiring a signal indicating that the recordingapparatus including at least the recording unit is removed from themobile object; a location information acquisition unit configured toacquire location information of the recording apparatus; and acommunication control unit configured to transmit the locationinformation acquired by the location information acquisition unit toanother apparatus when the removal of the recording apparatus isdetected by the removal detection unit within a predetermined timeperiod after the event detection unit detects the event.
 2. Therecording control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when thecommunication control unit detects that the distance between thelocation information when the removal is detected by the removaldetection unit and the location information after the removal is equalto or greater than a predetermined distance, the communication controlunit is configured to transmit the location information of the removedrecording apparatus to the other apparatus.
 3. The recording controlapparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the removal detection unitdetects that the recording apparatus is removed from the mobile object,the communication control unit is configured to continue to transmit thelocation information to the other apparatus from the time of theremoval.
 4. The recording control apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the removal detection unit is configured to detect that therecording apparatus is removed from the mobile object by acquiring asignal indicating that an external power supply supplied to therecording apparatus is disconnected.
 5. The recording control apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the removal detection unit is configuredto detect that the recording apparatus is removed from the mobile objectby acquiring a signal from a sensor provided between the recordingapparatus and the mobile object.
 6. A recording apparatus comprising:the recording control apparatus according to claim 1; the photographingunit; a display unit configured to display the photographing dataphotographed by the photographing unit; the recording unit; a GNSSreception unit configured to output a GNSS reception signal to thelocation information acquisition unit; and an internal power supplyconfigured to supply power to the recording apparatus.
 7. A recordingcontrol method comprising: acquiring photographing data photographed bya photographing unit; detecting an event of a mobile object; storing thephotographing data for a predetermined time period corresponding to thedetected event as event record data in a recording unit; detecting thata recording apparatus is removed from the mobile object by acquiring asignal indicating that the recording apparatus including at least therecording unit is removed from the mobile object; acquiring locationinformation of the recording apparatus; and transmitting the acquiredlocation information to another apparatus when the removal of therecording apparatus is detected within a predetermined time period afterthe event is detected.
 8. A non-transitory computer readable mediumstoring a recording control program for causing a computer to executeprocessing of: acquiring photographing data photographed by aphotographing unit; detecting an event of a mobile object; storing thephotographing data for a predetermined time period corresponding to thedetected event as event record data in a recording unit; detecting thata recording apparatus is removed from the mobile object by acquiring asignal indicating that the recording apparatus including at least therecording unit is removed from the mobile object; acquiring locationinformation of the recording apparatus; and transmitting the acquiredlocation information to another apparatus when the removal of therecording apparatus is detected within a predetermined time period afterthe event is detected.